‘The Pirate Bay’ to be blocked in the UK rules High Court

Internet service providers must block UK customers from accessing popular torrent portal The Pirate Bay, according to a new ruling handed down by the High Court today.

As reported by the BBC, Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all deny access to the controversial Swedish site.

The move follows a request from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) last November, asking ISPs to voluntarily block the site. They refused to do so without a court order, which the BPI has now obtained.

“The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale,” commented BPI CEO Geoff Taylor.

“Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them.

“This is wrong – musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else.”

Virgin confirmed that it will adhere to the court’s request, albeit reluctantly.

“As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price,” explained a spokesperson.

It’s not known exactly when access to the site will be turned off.

Outspoken Minecraft creator Markus ‘Notch’ Persson responded to the news by posting a link on his Twitter feed to a workaround that lets viewers in countries with a block in place to view the torrent hub, followed by a request –

“Please don’t pirate Minecraft, Although if pirating Minecraft helps ensure the bastards don’t get to censor the net, pirate it all you want.”